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and they both sat there, grown up, yet children at heart; and it was summer, warm, beautiful summer.
-- the snow queen, hans christian anderson
They find each other after ten years.
Ten years -- before Utena, ten years would have gone by in the blink of an eye, and would have gone unrecognized, their span insignificant, inconsequential. What was ten years, after all, when she'd lived for centuries? Years and years upon end. But of course, nothing had ever been the same since Utena came stumbling into her life so long ago, and time was no exception, and every year in that ten years had taken longer and longer to pass.
Anthy spends her time looking all over the world for Utena -- first in the cities, then in the towns, in every state and county and country. At night, when she sleeps, she dreams of a thousand different ways of finding Utena; in her dreams, they are together, always. It always leaves her with a pain in her chest when she wakes, but she doesn't mind it too much. She never dreamed when she was in Ohtori.
(At least, not of things so wonderful.)
And then one day, Utena is just there, in town, sitting in a coffee shop by the window and reading a book. Anthy almost misses her, almost walks right by without even seeing Utena at all; it's a hot day out and Anthy still has a long walk home, so she's in a bit of a hurry, but as she side-steps around two little girls talking by the curb, the pink of Utena's hair catches her eye. Anthy stops right there in the middle of the street and really looks, because her eyes have tricked her before, and perhaps this is just a fleeting memory of Utena that her mind has brought to life for a second.
But no, it really is Utena. Of course it is.
She's older, of course, than Anthy remembers. But it's still her, her bangs brushed off to one side, and her hair pulled back. She's wearing a dress shirt the color of the school uniform jacket she wore at Ohtori, and smiling at whatever she's reading; Anthy's heart turns over slowly in her chest at the sight of her.
At last -- and again, time seems so strange now; it feels like whole years have passed, in these few moments -- she starts, pushing open the door to the shop. The bell above the door jingles lightly as she steps inside. Utena's head comes up at the sound and her eyes are a little blank and fuzzy, as if she's just coming out of a dream. Her eyes meet Anthy's and there's a long, long pause, before anyone says anything.
"Oh." Utena blinks, her wide eyes as bright as the summer sky. "It's you."
"Hello, Utena," Anthy says, and closes her eyes as Utena springs up from the table, her arms closing around Anthy in a tight embrace. She smells a little like roses. She feels a lot like home. "I've been looking for you," Anthy says, against Utena's shoulder.
Utena kisses Anthy's forehead, through her hair. "I've been here, waiting," she says.
And that is when it really begins.